With Xabi Alonso never quite settled in at Real Madrid, more doubts are now being thrown up about his training methods.
Madrid are on a three game winless streak, and Cadena SER editor Antonio Romero claims that the concerns around Alonso are coming from the Valdebebas training ground.
He explained that while the club wanted a more tactical in-depth replacement for Carlo Ancelotti, Alonso is too far the other way.
“It’s clear that last year the manager was sacked, or it was said that his time was up, because the squad was complacent, because they did whatever they wanted, and because they didn’t train much,” Romero said.
“Real Madrid is looking for a modern coach in Xabi Alonso, someone who can, if you know what I mean, rein them in.
“A coach who makes them work harder, physically, tactically… and during the first mini-run of bad results, when you ask at Real Madrid what’s going on with the squad and Xabi Alonso, they tell you he shows the kids really long videos and that he’s driving them crazy.
“I think that also gets through, and the dressing room is receptive to what Real Madrid, as an institution and as a club, thinks at this moment about what Xabi Alonso is doing as coach.”
Rafa Alkorta added: “That Xabi Alonso knows football is beyond doubt. That he knows Real Madrid, beyond doubt. That he’s a tactically prepared coach, beyond doubt. But this is something else.”
Romero continued: “He’s driving them crazy by showing them an hour-long video and keeping them at Valdebebas for six hours. And that’s a very dangerous message for the dressing room, which senses it. The dressing room senses it.”
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